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Wrought and SteelyIrons Directly from the NITE STATES CHARLES J. EAMES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO PATENT QFFICE,

THE CARBON neon OOMPAN Y, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING IRON SPONGE, WROUGHT AND STEELY IRONS DIRECTLY FROM THE ORE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,552, dated May 26, 1885.

Application filed December 6, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. EAMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements Processes of Manufacturing Iron Sponge,

Ore; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others to apply the invention.

p and subjecting the The invention, generally stated, may be said to consist in intermingling with the ore lumps of graphitic carbon,coveringthe charge with a layer of lumps of graphitic carbon, charge contained in a furnace having a friable graphitic lining first to a sustained dull-redheat, and finally to a higher and sustained temperature.

Heretofore in the manufacture of iron sponge and malleable iron directly from the ore carbon in various forms -such as charcoal, plumbago, &c.together with various fluxes,

used and where steel or steely iron was desired scrap-iron, wrought-iron, iron shavings, 820., have been added to the charge. Plumbago has been also employed as a material for crucibles or containingvessels, or in conjunction with fire-clays to form furnace-linings to avoid silicious linings,which are often detrimental.

The main objections to the methods commonly practiced may be briefly stated to be,

' first, plu'mbago linings and crucibles as heretofore employed do not yield up the carbon with sufiicient readiness, and thus retard the process, to the detriment of the product; secondly, where used in the ordinary condition -viz., as'a powdered mass admixed with the ore-it cannot be uniformly distributed, is drifted out and carried off by the blasts, producing irregularityin the results obtained; and, thirdly, where used in conjunction with a fusible slag-covering for the ore, it rises into fusible slag" and the without obtaining anyresults. To these 0bjections must be added the material one of the high price of plumbago and the large amount of charcoal and other forms of soft carbons required, which addv materially to the expense &c., have beem greater portion is lost- (No specimens.)

acknowledged and reviewed the art, it will clearly appear from the following description wherein my invention lies.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a reverberatory furnaoeor similar chamber in which a moderate and'controllable temperature can be maintained. This furnace has a sole or hearth of friable graphitic material, preferably composed of sixty per cent. of graphite and forty (40) per cent. of fire-brick, intermingled thoroughly, and rendered plastic by a carbonaceous adhesive binder-such as a minimum quantity of coal or wood tar, molasses,or the like. plied to the furnace and permitted to dry out, a friable highly graphitic hearth will be'obtained. Upon such a hearth the ore, as taken from the mines, intermingled with lumps of graphitic carbon,-(preferably without flux,) said carbon constituting such a per cent. of the charge as shall approximate the quantity required to deoxodize the ore, (which can readily be ascertained by analysis,) say about thirty to fifty per cent., is charged and then covered with a layer of graphitic carbon in lumps, said layer being preferably about one or two inches thick. The layer of intermingled ore and graphitic lumps composing the charge may vary from four (4) toeight (8) inches. The graphitic carbon referred to is an impure graphite containing considerable earthy matters, iron, 850., of a character, such as is found at Oranstou, Rhode Island, and elsewhere, and distinguished in the trade as 'graphitic carbon, being much cheaper and more readily obtained than plumbago, so called and employed in the arts.

The furnace-hearth being of the character described, and the charge of the nature before specified, the furnace is raised and maintained at a dull 'red-heat-say 1500 Fahrenheit to 2000 Fahrenheit-(varied to meet the nature of more or less refractory ores) where deoxidation of fusion. This temperature is sustained for from five (5) to seven (7) hours, by which time deoxidation will have been completed, and

methods now commonly practiced.

When thismasshas beeuap= of the ore will take place without danger according to the more an iron sponge containing the free metal inclosed in its earthy matrix will have been obtained. The heat is thenraised sufficiently to cause an agglomeration of the mass or the agglutination of the contained metalsay from 2000 Fahrenheitto 2500 Fahrenheitor morebut not sufiiciently high to fuse the mass. When this temperature has been maintained for from'one (1) to two (2) hours, the mass can be bailed and removed to the blooming apparatus for reduction to wrought-iron; but if a steel or steely iron is preferred, this stage of the process must be prolonged some six (6) orseven (7) hours, which can be readily deter: mined by the operator, and necessarily varies mation of slaggy s onge of deteriorated character.

Owing to the fact that the presence of the graphitic lumps intermingled with the lumps of ore lightens up the mass and renders it permeable to theheated gases, 8tc., it is not-absolutely necessary to employ a covering of graphiticiumps, though such a covering is highly desirable.

The advantages of my process are, first, the friable bed readily yields its carbon to the superimposed ore; secondly, the lumps of graphitic carbon interposed between the lumps of ore lighten up the massaud permit the circulation of the heat-bearing gases therethrough,

while the carbon is immediately presented to the ore to be dcoxidized, and in such form that it can not be drifted or swept off by the blasts of gas, &c.; and, thirdly, the covering of the ore, while it is of a character to protect it from the direct and injurious action of the flame, is also of such character as to obviate in a great measure the evils attendant on the use of fusible slag, as well as the common loss of graphite carried off in the slag.

I donot herein claim the friable graphitic hearth, as the same forms the subject-matter of applications filed September 27, 1884, Serial No. 144,152, and Serial No. 149, 823,

, filed December 9,1884; neither do I herein claim a process wherein the ore without admixture of lumps or graphitic carbon is treated .on a friable graphitic bed while covered with alayer of graphitic lumps, as that forms the subjectmatter of application Serial No. 149,684, filed Decem er 6, 1884. Further, I do not herein claim 0 arg'ing the ore on a fri-- or less refractory charactor of the ore, as before specified. Finally,

' c assz ablegraphiti'cwhearth, covering [the charge, .with a layer of lump'graphite, and subjecting the charge to a dull-red sustained heat until deoxidation, and then. to a higher heat until agglomeration takes place in the. manufacture of wrought-iron, as the same forms the subject-matter of my application, Serial No.

157,226, filed February 21 1885.

In lieu of the friable hearth-covering hereinbefore specified, good results will be obtained by covering the sole of the furnace with a layer of some six (6) to twelve .(12)

inches of graphitic lumps arranged to protect the bridge-wall and flue-bridge.

, Such a mass in its natural condition will be sufficiently friable, and has the advantage that it can be more easily applied without cooling off the furnace, and can be repaired from time to time by a top-dressing.

=Having thus described the nature, advantages, and characteristics of my. invention, what I claim, and desire toasecnre by Letters Patent, is- A a 1. The method hefein described for the production of iron sponge direct from the ore, which consists in chargingthe ore intermingled with lumps of graphitic carbon on a friable graphitic hearth, and subjectinglthe charge to a dull-red sustained heat until deoxidation of the ore is accomplished, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The method herein described for the production of iron sponge direct from the ore intermingled with lumps of graphitic carbon on a friable graphitic hearth, covering the charge with a layer of graphitic carbon in lumps, and

finally subjecting the charge to a dull-red sustained heat until deoxidation of the ore is accomplished, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

' 3. The method herein described for producing steelified iron direct from the ore, which consists in charging the ore mingled with lumps of graphitic carbon on a friable graph. itic hearth, covering the charge with alayer of graphitic lumps, subjecting the charge thus formed first to the action of a dull-red sustained heat until deoxidation is accomplished,

and then to a'higher sustained heat short of the fusing-point of the metal for 'a further period of six (6) or more hours, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in

presence of two witnesses, this 6th day of De; cember, 1884. I CHARLES J. EAMES. Witnesses: I

F. W. BITTER, J r., H. B. MOULTON. 

